It is well known in motor vehicles to have a vehicle panel, such as an instrument panel, with a deployment opening through which an inflatable air bag is deployed. The opening in the vehicle panel is typically closed by a cover door to normally conceal the undeployed air bag from view. Conventional cover doors are hingedly mounted to the vehicle panel so that the inflating air bag forcibly moves the cover door out of the opening to permit deployment of the air bag through the opening.
It is often desirable to direct the inflating air bag rearwardly and downwardly towards a vehicle occupant, particularly when the deployment opening is located on an upper surface of the instrument panel. In some cases, the inflating air bag may be directed by a cover door which has side straps or tethers to limit the pivotal movement of the cover door away from the opening. However, using the cover door to direct the inflating air bag has the disadvantage not only of requiring side straps or tethers on the cover door, but also of requiring significant reinforcement of the cover door to withstand forces by the inflating air bag.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a device, separate from the cover door, to direct the inflating air bag rearwardly and downwardly towards a vehicle occupant and to shield the cover door from contact by the inflating air bag.